Gallatin-Park Chapter
MCV has a community chapter in Gallatin and Park Counties for grassroots action and accountability work.
Gallatin-Park Chapter Contact:
MCV
P.O. Box 63
Billings MT 59103
406-254-1593
Gallatin-Park Chapter Board of Directors:
- Chairperson:
David Tyler, Belgrade, is a civil engineer who owns and operates Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Company with his partner, Becky Weed. This is a certified organic sheep ranch and wool processing mill, with a predator-friendly ethic. David Tyler came to Montana in 1986 after working for years as a civil engineer on dams, power plants, and in the classroom. He`s worked in offshore exploration and in GPS navigating, topography, and farming. Dave taught at MSU for several years, started a precision agricultural electronics and software company that still operates in Belgrade and is a member of a national board that accredits academic engineering programs in the United States.
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Vice Chairperson:
Sharon Brodie, Bozeman, is originally from Fairview, Montana. She moved to Gallatin County in the eighties and graduated from Montana State University, fell in love with the place and never made it back home. She has been fundraising for non-profits for many years and is currently the Development Coordinator for Western Sustainability Exchange. Sharon is a member of Women of the Dirt, the League of Women Voters and a proud Water Babe. She sits on the board of the Greater Gallatin Watershed Council, Sonoran Institute's Gallatin Area Planning Grants Advisory Board and is a volunteer for local political campaigns. She enjoys fishing, hunting, riding and skiing and often goes on very, very long walks but never on hikes.
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MCV Board Representative:
Katie Craig Scherfig has worked as MCV’s Gallatin-Park Chapter Get-Out–the-Vote organizer since MCV’s first election in 2000. As a volunteer, she’s been involved in all phases of chapter activity, including legislative accountability, fundraising, events planning and endorsement interviews. Katie lives in Bozeman and works as the Manager of Wildwood Nursery in Big Sky. Previously she spent seven years with the Sierra Club working on grizzly bear, wolf, clean air and wildland issues. In winter she enjoys cross country and telemark skiing. In the summer Katie and her husband Peter spend their free time hiking, mountain biking and exploring Montana while camping in their 1971 VW bus. She is also an avid gardener. Katie began her love for the wilds of Montana when she moved here 33 years ago. She and her husband have two grown children who also have a passion for the Montana outdoors.
- Alternate MCV Board Representative:
David Chambers is the president of the Center for Science in Public Participation, a non-profit corporation that provides technical assistance on mining and water quality to public interest groups and tribal governments in the US and Canada. Dave is a registered professional geophysicist with a Professional Engineering Degree in Physics from the Colorado School of Mines, and a Masters Degree in Geophysics from the University of California at Berkeley. He also has a Ph.D. in Environmental Planning from Berkeley. Dave and his wife, Sigrid, have resided in Bozeman for 15 years.
- Secretary:
Gonnie Siebel found her connection with the out of doors while growing up in Holland. Her secretarial education supported her between outdoor exploits around Western Europe before coming to the U.S. She became acquainted with environmental activism while working for 5 years as an administrative assistant with GYC, followed by part-time involvement with various other organizations. Gonnie served as a chapter officer during the second half of 2007 and worked on the candidate interview and endorsement teams for legislative elections. Gonnie spends her free time in the outdoors: hiking, backpacking, canoeing, skiing and gardening.
- Officers:
Peter Aengst is the Deputy Director for the Northern Rockies office of the Wilderness Society, a national conservation group founded in 1935 with a headquarters office in Washington DC. From 1991-1996, Peter worked at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC), first as a Program Associate and later as their Mining Issues Coordinator, focused on the successful campaign to stop the New World gold mine proposed outside of Yellowstone National Park. He later served on GYC's board from 2000 to 2007. Peter has undergraduate degrees from Williams College and a M.S. in Natural Resource Policy from the University of Michigan. A passionate skier, climber, and biker, Peter has lived in downtown Bozeman for the past nine years with his wife, Kate, and more recent addition, one year old son Nolan.
Norm Bishop served 36 years with the National Park Service. From 1980 to 1997, he was based in Yellowstone National Park, where he led wolf restoration interpretation. Norm holds a BS in Botany and completed graduate studies at Colorado State University in Forest Recreation and Wildlife Management. Norm served as a chapter officer in '06-'07, and as co-chair since 2008. He is a field representative for the International Wolf Center, and a board member of the Wolf Recovery Foundation and Wild Things Unlimited. He also serves on the advisory board of Living with Wolves. He enjoys hiking and nordic skiing with his wife, Dorothy.
Linda Clark a Chapter officer since 2006, has served on the Chapter's candidate endorsement teams, and in conservation voter turnout efforts. A former college English teacher, Linda has an extensive background in experiential and cross-disciplinary education and emergent literacy/early learning. She currently does contract and volunteer work for several non-profits and public institutions.
Linda Phillips is a Research Scientist in the Ecology Department at Montana State University where she has worked since 2000. She is trained as a Spatial Analyst and works on many projects that focus on understanding patterns of biological diversity at broad spatial scales. Prior to beginning her current position, Linda received a BS in Physical Geography and an M.S. in Earth Sciences at MSU. Linda has four children and is actively involved in the Bozeman public schools and Montana Avalanche soccer club and regularly works on city, county and statewide political campaigns. Her husband Mike is a representative in the Montana Legislature representing House District 66.
James Sweaney worked as a smokejumper the US Forest Service and the National Park Service before becoming a Park Ranger. Jim served on the Council of the Montana Wilderness Association. He organized the Yellowstone Park Preservation Council; a group of park employees dedicated to protecting Yellowstone Park from the National Park Service. He is now retired in Gardiner and lives nineteen feet from Yellowstone National Park.
Norm Eggert moved to Montana in 1967 and retired as a professor from Montana State University in 1998. In the early 1970's, Norm was a Democratic Precinct committee representative in Gallatin County. Since retirement Norm has been on the FORParks board of directors, serving as its first treasurer. He also served for several years on the Gallatin County Open Lands Board. Norm has been a member of Gallatin Valley Land Trust for many years and has contributed many hours to trail building and maintenance.
Mark Berg
